Vicente's Mexican + Hookah (676 Franklin next to Indian restaurant) is going, going....

Longtime readers may recall that this place was once to become a bar run by the Indian Restaurant next door, but that never came to fruition.

Now, the space has presumably changed hands and is to become a Mexican Restaurant with Hookah pipes.

Vicente's

676 Franklin Avenue

Note: My understanding is that when one allows Hookah smoking, one can not also serve alcohol. So, it should be interesting to see how this place does in light of all of the other Mexican places in western Crown Heights. Vicente's will make six (6!):

1. Chavella's

2. Gueros

3. The soon-to-open burrito place across from Bob and Betty's (formerly Jam Rock)

Mexican food with no booze, and acrid fruity smoke?! Im predicting a quick fail, unless this is a joke. Or these guys quickly do some research and realize their impending mistake. Is there a hookah place anywhere that does very well?

Interesting about Bombay Bar, the owner told me he couldnt open the bar b/c of the church across the street, and he didnt know the rules when he signed the lease.

Anyhow, curious as to who hookah smokers are since even at zaytoons I didnt see anyone smoking (maybe an off day). Doesnt sound like a hipster thing. Black males maybe? Either way, when I think of hookahs, I think of...oh yeah....booze. cigars&scotch. cigarettes&beer. etc.

Is this place owned by the same owners as Bombay? I know it's been said before on this thread, but the idea of eating Mexican food with hookah smoke and no booze makes me a bit ill. I wonder if we could create a sort of new business preemptive death watch list thread. Is that mean?

Above, I speculated that the place had changed hands. This was likely because I found it improbable that the owners of an indian restaurant would open a mexican/hookah place.Brooklyn, you never let me down. I see no reason they can't make "authentic mexican food and hookah".

I went inside Bombay Masala to ask if Vicente's had an opening date (or estimate of one). The managers didn't appear to speak English very well, but after a few attempts to explain my question they got the gist of it and then just referred me to the "Coming Soon" sign. I root for all local businesses, but as a native Texan (who lived in Mexico for awhile) I'm not expecting this to be some of the better Mexican food I've had. I hope to be proven wrong. Or at least something close to that.

One of the owners said that they partnered with a guy (mexican i believe) who had created one of these concepts somewhere else. Hopefully he's the one who's actually managing the menu and food, and the bombay masala guys are passive investors.

I know one of the proprietors, who is a seasoned restaurant manager and really knows his stuff. I frequented the Mexican restaurant he managed (and more or less ran, as far as I could tell) in Prospect Heights. I have't been to Vicente's yet, but I can't wait to go!

Ate from there twice (once inside, once delivery) this weekend, and visited twice...friday and saturday for world cup.

The food is actually quite good and reasonably priced. But man, it really feels like they want the food to be a secondary part of the concept which is a shame.

I say this because on Saturday when I went in to catch a cup game, there was a dj with music blasting, I mean you could barely hear the waitress. Guys in front were smoking some nasty strawberry stuff. Very disappointing that a Mexican joint would have the volume off for a soccer game, and rap music on blast. It was intolerable, I quickly finished my beer, had my food wrapped up, and took it home to watch the 2nd half. I wonder if they figure it'll be too hard to compete with the other Mex places around on food alone, and hope that smoking will be the draw. Really too bad, I'd be a regular here for the food, but the music / smoke would keep me away.

Just a suggestion to whoever opens a new restaurant in the area, MIDDLE EASTERN. Fez opened and closed and was a bit of a disappointment. Other than hiking over to Vanderbilt I haven't found a decent Mediterranean/M.E. restaurant in the area. Would love some good Zaatar bread, lentil soup, shepherd's salad etc.

I was not an English major. The place is contradictory from the beginning. The front of the menu states it's Autentica Comida Mexicana, but the menu items don't feel terribly authentic Mexican. So I'm left wondering if they don't know what authentic Mexican food is or they think no one else does. Either way it doesn't put them in a good light.

If you go by the Tex-Mex/American food items nothing looks particular inventive. Considering this lack of creativity the prices are far too high. It seems like they didn't consider their proximity to Chavelas and Gueros. More authentic is covered by the former and the in the hand tacos by the latter. Tex/Mex can run the risk of making all the food sound the same. Protein, rice, lettuce, tomato, onions, cilantro. If you're not going to make it interesting, make it cheaper and go with that. American/Mexican seems like a good idea, but they need to lower prices on appetizers and soups for example.

When items are creative they seem to be in really weird, unappetizing ways. Take the Mole Poblano. "Pueba (sic) style Mole with Chicken in a light sweet red sauce, Made with Mixed Peppers, Sesame Seeds, Raisins, and Almonds." Why is a mole sauce light, sweet, and red? Calling the dish Mole Poblano would indicate the main ingredient is poblano peppers, but the description includes chicken. I'm not a Spanish speaker, but it seems like the title should instead be Chicken Mole with Poblanos, except there is no specific mention of poblanos in the dish, just mixed peppers. And perhaps most importantly, what are sesame seeds doing in "authentic" mexican food?

I haven't even tried the food. If they're not clear on the important part of their meals and what is in them I'm not going to bother. Half the nouns are in English, half in Spanish, most of the nouns are capitalized and others later on aren't at all. I find it all very distracting.

And yeah, I don't ever see people in there. Somehow they need to figure out who they are and clean up the menu. The bottled beers are pleasantly affordable for the neighborhood, but they're not enough to pull in customers.

The first mental images of the place are hookah smoke and Indian food. That's a really bad way to sell Mexican food. They might have a good delivery business if the food is good, but who is the target market for hanging out at an Indian/hookah-Mexican food restaurant/bar?

I walk by the place every day and it seems dark, sketchy, and the music is too loud. It reminds me of places I'd see under the 7 Train on Roosevelt Ave in Queens. At least if this were on Roosevelt I'd know the food would be legit. That said, if it's attracting a significant clientele, then I'm all for it since a thriving business is a good thing for Franklin Ave regardless of whether I personally want to frequent it.

Not sure any neighborhood anywhere is craving mexican + hookah. Maybe moroccan/hookah. Now that they lost the hookah and will try to compete on food/drink alone with the rest of the mex places around, it can only be a faster decline without Chef Ramsey coming in to overhaul it.

Yes, Bombat Masala has fantastic food and the management & waiters, etc are all super lovely and sweet, and deserve lots of success. But the Vicente's thing just doesn't seem wel-thought out. Hopefully they will re-focus & shift the non-working Vicente's bit. Wishing them well.